Sprinklings of history, a smidgen of genealogy, a dash of art & a dusting of architecture, all mixed together with my eccentric fascinations

13 February 2012

An art attack!

After I recovered from my initial attack of culture shock at the
motorways and new cars, the shopping malls and plate-glass windows, the
high-rise apartment blocks and hot running water coming out of the tap, one of
the things I’ve enjoyed most here in Medellin, Colombia, is the art.

The city centre, in particular, is full of amazing sculptures. My
favourites are the 23 voluminous bronze figures by Colombia’s famous artist,
Ferdinand Botero, which are displayed in their own plaza, and a very large
section in the Museum of Antiochia, which fronts on to the plaza, is also
devoted to Botero’s chubby works. There I discovered Botero’s paintings, which depict
equally voluminous people, animals and still lifes. There’s even a chubby
Jesus!

In the area around Medellin’s administrative centre, there are
several more amazing sculptures. There’s the 38-metre-tall Monument a la Raza,
a monument to the people of this region and their struggles against adversity.
The lower right part resembles a Greek temple pediment but then the left side
soars majestically up into the sky, so that, when photographed from a certain
angle, its figures appear to reach out and touch the nearby skyscraper.

Monument a la Raza

The figure work is amazing!

Though this monument is spectacular, I prefer the small bronze figures
of local people, by Olga Inés Arango,
in the adjoining square in front of the council building. The shoeshine man has an incredibly lifelike face, as has the old woman
saleswoman, and the newspaper seller has been caught in mid-voice, yelling out
the latest headlines.

The saleswoman ...

and the shoeshine man

and the newspaper seller

Across from the administrative centre is the impressive Plaza Cisneros, with its artificial forest of around 300 light poles, some up to 24 metres tall, which is impressive during the day but must be even more so when lit up at night. The concrete poles are interspersed with stands of tall bamboo, emphasising the idea of an urban
forest.

Today I discovered the Madre Monte, the
mythical mother nature sculpted by José Horacio Betancur, in the botanical garden.
And, after a quick google search, I know that Medellin has so many more amazing
sculptures that I haven’t had time to see.

And then there’s the street art ... graffiti on
the concrete walls bordering the motorways, images of human figures and huge
flower murals adorning the sides of buildings, shops advertising what they sell
by painting whole walls with images of their products.

Exploring Medellin has been a totally
unexpected visual feast of colour and artistic imagination! I just wish I had
time to see more.

About Me

I am a writer and photographer; project
manager and English teacher; knitter and genealogist; fungi forayer and bird
watcher; countryside rambler and city strider; volunteer and child sponsor; tree
lover and cat person; researcher and blogger; nemophilist; and traveller.